Strategies

	The topic of this article or section is subject to personal opinion, and does not represent any one absolute truth.
	If you disagree, discuss your concerns on the the talk page before editing.

This page covers useful tactics and techniques for battling in Spiral Knights.

Solo Tactics

Sprint

A simple, straightforward strategy for clearing a dungeon: run as fast as you can through the dungeon, avoiding monsters and stopping only for the occasional Treasure box. This strategy works well for getting to the bottom of the dungeon quickly, in order to fight a specific boss, for example. However, this will often cost a lot of Energy, and the knight will miss a lot of Heat and money.

Single Weapon Type

This is the equivalent of Spiral Knights's "dexless" classes. A strategy where the knight only uses a single type of weapon, such as all Swords, all Handguns, or all Bombs. While this strategy may seem limiting in its variety, it leaves the knight to focus on only his specific weapon type. Thus, a knight using all guns can use a variety of guns to get a range of power, distance, and speed. Additionally, that same knight could use Armor such as the Nameless Poncho, which gives a huge bonus in gun performance, increasing the power and speed of all of that characters weapons. This strategy works extremely well for specific enemies, or in groups of similarly limited characters; a party of one sword specialist, one gun specialist, and one bomb specialist can be extremely devastating! Just remember the limitations of your weapons and play in a way that minimizes your weakness and exploits your specialty.

Shield Shoving

The Shield is an unusual item, and we admittedly know very little about how they work. While they can take a while to activate (in which time a knight is vulnerable) they block all damage, an extremely useful effect. However, shields have another power: when you are standing next to an enemy (close enough to hit with a sword) and activate your shield, after about half a second (when the shield is coming out) the shield's force field will pulse with sparks, shoving away all enemies within range. This trick works well on smaller enemies, especially with larger shields. The converse is also true: don't expect to be shoving around Lord Vanaduke with the Proto Shield; it's not gonna happen. But, for enemies such as Wolvers, this technique is potentially deadly. If you wait right before the enemy strikes, and then wait out the attack with the shield, they will be thrown back and open for a counterattack. This technique is surprisingly compatible with many other styles; for example, try combining this tech and the previous strategy. Having an all gun character shield instead of a melee attack is ideal; the knight doesn't need to switch weapons, the enemy is pushed away, and the knight is left with a loaded gun, ready to fill the stunned enemy with lead...or lazor. The same can be said of swords that are strong and slow. Use the shield instead of the sword to stun opponents, and then bring out yer broadsword. Try using this skill often in conjunction with other techniques and strategies.

Kiting

"Kiting" is a long-range fighting technique, which involves staying out of range of enemies' attacks while shooting at them. Drawing single enemies away from a larger group can prevent you from being overwhelmed in battle. This strategy is slow, but very safe, affording you the ability to take on levels that are more difficult than your equipment may allow. It fails when you are forced to fight in a confined space such as an arena, when enemies can easily dodge long-range attacks, or when enemies have the capacity to heal. Note: in arenas it is often possible to kite enemies in circles. This leaves you at a slightly greater risk of an enemy staying behind and attacking you the next tour, but is in general equally viable as normal kiting.

Run Away

The Spiral Order's Creed states specifically, "A knight need not have courage, only Valiance". Well, they weren't kidding! When you're surrounded by enemies with only three health left and you just can't seem to get an attack in, what do you do? You run, of course! Run away! Use the time to charge your sword (not your gun - charging a gun makes you run a lot slower) and heal yourself. Running away will also put all enemies on one side, making your job significantly easier. When you're ready, turn and face the music! Fight on your own terms! If you need to run away, go ahead! Just remember, as a Knight of the Spiral Order, your running away must be VALIANT!

Team Tactics

Specialization

This tactic is fairly broad, and can be interpreted in many different ways. The overall idea is that when you assemble your party, you try and use weapons that will complement the weaknesses of your party members. So, having one person use fast but weak weapons and another use slow but strong weapons is a good example of this strategy. If you so choose to try this, have the speedy character rush in while the heavy hitter takes his time preparing an assault. By switching places you can effectively tag-team an enemy to death. Similarly, having one character deal lots of damage while another just has high HP can be done the same way; have the high-HP character stand as a wall between the enemy and the damage-dealing knight. Other variations of specificity exist: having one character use all swords while another uses all guns is equally practical. Coordinate with your party specific strategies and commands, so that you can all battle as a team, rather than just trying to survive and destroy.

Race

If your party is already strong enough to take out most enemies in a dungeon, then going through it with normal tactics can cause you to not think crucially about time and damage. By racing your party members, you can actually reduce the amount of time spent in a dungeon, and INCREASE net heat and money yield. If all players are truly skilled, they can manage this and come out with little to no damage. Not to mention it's hella fun!

Help The Party

Belt items are not retained by Knights if they return to Haven at any exit gate. Upon selecting the 'Up' arrow, any items stored in the belt are dropped, but not until after the elevator descends. However, all vials and capsules can be dragged off of the belt and dropped. If you know that you are returning to Haven and not continuing with the party (either by choice or lack of energy), drop your belt items BEFORE you enter the gate elevator and allow your party-mates to take up what they can use before continuing down.

Focus Fire

This tactic involves focusing your attacks on one enemy to take them out more quickly. Ask yourself: Would you rather have two partially damaged monsters attacking you, or one monster attacking you? If your answer is the second one, then tell your team so they can work with you and kill the monsters faster.

Tutorials & Guides
Starting Out | New Player Briefing | User interface | Useful Links
Bombing Guide | Gunslinger Guide | Swordmaster Guide
Shieldbearer Guide
Hybrid Guide